Texas-based Whites Chapel United Methodist Church (WCUMC) has invested in a second Jands Vista T2 lighting console and
GLP LED fixtures, to enhance the delivery of traditional worship messages in its main sanctuary.

WCUMC seeks to make traditional worship relevant for today through inspiring messages delivered with a fresh and innovative approach. The Church's main sanctuary is a multi-purpose venue hosting services, concerts, conferences, weddings, funerals and other special events, complemented by a smaller venue used for contemporary and youth worship.

A few years ago, WCUMC decided to upgrade the lighting in their contemporary worship venue to help deliver their message. Keen to utilize innovative lighting technologies to give services a look and feel that would appeal to their youth audience, the Church invested in their first Jands Vista T2 control console and moving heads.

Tim Georgeff, Director of Creative Arts at WCUMC, commented: “The lighting in this venue really accentuated the mood of our services. Not only were we able to create exciting moving light shows to complement our worship, we were able to use the capabilities of the gear to highlight special moments, spaces and timing in the services.”

Much positive feedback from the congregation helped the Church see the benefits of utilizing similar capabilities in their large sanctuary space, which was only equipped with conventional PAR Cans and an old lighting console.

In addition to using their own Vista T2 console in the contemporary worship venue, the Church had been renting another Vista T2 desk for big events in the main sanctuary for nearly three years, so Tim was convinced it was the right console to purchase for their needs.

When it came to upgrading the sanctuary's lighting to automated fixtures, WCUMC adopted the new GLP Volkslicht due it combining the benefits of an automated moving head with the latest energy-saving LED technology. The cost-effective fixture uses 60 Rebel LEDs to create a full color palette from strong saturates to subtle pastel colors. The small size, light weight and low power consumption make the Volkslicht ideal as a sustainable upgrade.

Tim commented: “The ability of the GLP fixtures to be aimed remotely has allowed us to place them in hard to access areas that give us great flexibility in our lighting looks and designs. We are able to create different looks utilizing their colors and mobility, providing highlighting of our architecture in the choir loft and organ chamber and backlighting of our chancel and stage area during worship. They are also used to provide effectual movement through the congregation on occasions that call for those moves.”

The upgraded lighting system includes GLP Volkslicht fixtures, Chroma-Qâ„¢ Color Blockâ„¢ multi-purpose LED fixtures and High End Systems Cyberlights. The Church rents additional moving lights, LEDs and hazers for larger special events.

The Vista console is patched into the sanctuary's house lights system, enabling WCUMC to control the house, architectural and worship lighting with it. The venues' Vista consoles are programmed and operated by both the Church's volunteers and paid production staff.

Featuring a volunteer-friendly simplicity which has made it such a hit in the worship market, the award-winning Jands Vista lets users work visually to get on with designing better looking shows, rather than getting distracted by the actual programming process itself.

Summarizing his experience of the new lighting system, Tim Georgeff, Director of Creative Arts at WCUMC commented: “We use the Vista to control the lighting for everything we do in our worship venues. The addition of intelligent lighting and the Vista console have allowed us to have confidence that our worship is going to look great, and that our staff and volunteers can be effective at providing great support through the versatility of the Vista. Our congregation is really enjoying what we call our â€˜ancient future' look: a traditional sanctuary enhanced with intelligent LED lighting. It is AWESOME!”

WCUMC's Vista T2 consoles were supplied by Jands exclusive North American Distributor, A.C. Lighting Inc., along with the upgraded system's various fixtures.